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Democrat Certified Winner in WA Governor Race

Washington's secretary of state certified the result of the hand recount (the third count) in the governor's race, reversing the first two results -- which Republican Dino Rossi had won -- and making Democrat Christine Gregoire the election's second governor-elect, by 129 votes out of 2.9 million. The inauguration is January 12. Predictably, the two sides have switched arguments, too, with the Democrats saying Rossi should concede and the Republicans saying they have a duty to make sure the will of the people is followed. The next step may be an election contest, which could take months, and result in a court awarding the victory to a candidate, nullifying the entire election, or sending the matter to the legislature. Rossi is calling for the legislature to pass a special law calling for a new election, which would bypass a contest procedure.

10 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If they have a new election... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Ok...so how about two new parties then?

  2. no worse than voter disenfranchising Republicans by Scudsucker · · Score: 0, Troll

    To make matters worse, they're intentionally working to keep ballots from servicemen and women

    [Dana Carvy's George H. W. Bush voice] If you're in the military, and your vote is illegally cast after the election is over, your vote is...counted. If you're a minority and there's an error on your ballot, you vote is...not counted.[/DCGHWBV]

    Nevermind that the GOP is so very concerned about voter fraud, as long as your a minority and are likely to vote democratic. Democrats might have committed shenanigans as well, but you shouldn't throw stones in a glass house buddy.

  3. Re:As a Democrat... by pudge · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yes.

  4. Re:Um No by pudge · · Score: 0, Troll

    If the results of the hand recount overturn the election the state is obligated to pay for it, not because Gregiore (hateful shrew that she is) compels them, but because the law does.

    She (well, her party, with her) compelled the recount. This is not rocket science.

    I never said there was anything wrong with it. I supported their right to do it, and didn't complain about their decision. But they are the ones who made the decision which then forced the state to pay out an extra $1m or so. It's a fact.

    It's the proper result of a proper election, afterall.

    Exactly. And if we had a new election because of a special law or a contest, that would also be the proper result of a proper election.

    If you can't sign the freaking affidavit on your absentee ballot, you didn't submit a vote, you mailed the county your garbage.

    Yes, I thought this was you again. And you're still lying. Many of the ballots discarded by the counties that the Republicans were trying to get included had been signed, but the signatures simply didn't match, according to the counties.

    We get it, you hate Republicans. You don't need to say any more than that.

  5. Re:BOTH parties are like that. by pudge · · Score: 0, Troll

    why don't you look at why the Republicans haven't been advocating improvements in the voting process?

    Why do you ask me to look into why something that IS happening is NOT happening? Sam Reed -- a Republican -- has spent years advocating improving the voting process (and working to do it), and many other Republicans during this whole affair have advocated various improvements.

    Stop making stuff up.

  6. Re:Um No by pudge · · Score: 0, Troll

    Many hadn't been signed

    How many?

    or their were signed improperly in some significant respect

    Such as?

    Gregiore did not compel the state to pay for the recount. She, compeled them to do the recount.

    And Rossi will not be doing either: he is asking for a new vote, he cannot compel it. And so what? The point is simply that someone was attacking Rossi for trying to get the state to pay millions, and Gregoire did the same thing.

    Are the democrats wrong for expectiong the republicans to up hold and pursue their own publicly professed values?

    No, they are wrong for saying that the Republican argument was wrong before, and that it is right now. They are wrong for being hypocrites.

    Now, I do hate republicans. For national office, there are very few I can see myself voting for anymore

    What you personally do is irrelevant.

  7. Re:Gracious Winner by Shakrai · · Score: -1, Troll

    At the risk of sounding like we should all just get along, there is merit to the idea that if we, the left and the right, are working for the betterment of the people... then no one loses.

    Unfortunately the perspective that many (most?) of us on the left have is that the people running the primary right-wing party are only interested in undoing 30 years of progress and transferring massive amounts of money to those who need it the least at the expense of everybody else. The people in charge of the Republican Party seem to view anybody that disagrees with them with nothing less then utter and complete contempt. They will not compromise unless public opinion forces them to do so (Homeland Security, Campaign Finance Reform) and even then they will try to secretly undermine whatever it is that they are agreeing to.

    This is not meant as an indictment of all people who hold views right-of-center. There are several good Republican politicians (John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Arlen Specter, Christopher Shays, Sherwood Boehlert) but it seems that are drowned out by the rest of the party. And it seems that the rest of the party only stands for two things: Turning this country into a Christian Theocracy and transferring massive amounts of wealth to the super-rich in an effort to create an American aristocracy that will rule over us for the next century.

    That's just the way I see it. I doubt you can change my mind as long as the Republican Party keeps acting the way they have been since Newt Gingrich brought them to power.

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  8. Re:As a Democrat... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Rossi didn't want military ballots to count. That's all I need to know about him. Your man does not support the troops AT ALL and that's just unamerican.

  9. Re:...been waiting four years to says this - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    You know, people in Florida have had a saying for the past 4 years. "Get over it."

    Republicans' hissy whining is just turning people sour against them. Who wants to listen to parades of old fat white men bitching that they "really won"?

    Get over it. The sooner you do the sooner you'll be better off.

  10. Re:Pick a party and vote only for that party in... by js7a · · Score: 0, Troll
    Why should I, as a Republican, have any say in who the Democrats decided to give their endorsement to? Why shouldn't you?

    Membership in one of the two major political parties doesn't preclude membership in the other, at least here in California. That county registrars require a single affiliation is an anachronism.

    Is it different in Washington?

    The fact is that both of the major political parties have a great deal of power, and nobody should be excluded from membership in either or both.